Asus teases next-gen ZenFone 2, taps out optical zoom hint

Asus has released a couple of teaser videos for its forthcoming ZenFone 2, which will be announced at CES 2015. The company previously confirmed it would be launching new handsets at the Las Vegas tradeshow.

The ZenFone was originally announced in 2014, offering a range of devices at different sizes - 4, 5 and 6-inch. The video doesn't reveal any specs and is only 9 seconds long, but the emphasis seems to be on the camera.

The phone spins, quickly revealing some detailing on the rear. It looks a lot like the rear controls found on the LG G3, perhaps seeing Asus move it's volume controls from the side to the rear.

The video then zooms to the camera, gives us a glance at what looks like a dual LED flash, before saying: "see what others can't see". That, presumably, relates to the increased flash power. A close-up of what we think is the flash looks a little odd though, as it looks like a dual lens arrangement.

Asus

This might just be down to the limited quality of the teaser video, however, as in another rear shot, the placement and the design looks just like type of dual LED flash you'll find on the iPhone 6 or HTC One M8, above the main camera lens.

Asus

Following on from this original tease above, Asus released a second video that is simply a message saying "see what others can't see", surrounded by Morse Code dots and dashes.

This Morse Code reads "optical zoom". That might kill all the speculation dead, being as subtle as a poke in the eye.

Asus

So it looks as though Asus may well be launching the ZenFone 2 at CES 2015 with optical zoom. It's not the only mobile device company rumoured to be looking at optical zoom: there's also been some suggestion that HTC might be interested too.